I have heard lots of developers arguing over the importance of both, but there are many other developers too, who do not deny the importance of both in the web designing arena. There are many issues in the development of designing, which can be solved by table only. For example: a contact form for any company's website can be made on table very easily.
Those who have spent quite a time in this profession do agree with the fact that correct use of both the techniques can prove to be beneficial. There are many things which can only be done by proper utilization and optimization of the resources (Table and Div).
If you ask what is Div- it is a container within which web content is kept. It is very similar to tables. In tables the content is contained within the cells of the table. Properties of the div are defined within the CSS file.
It is very important for all of us to understand that the traditional table based designs and CSS go hand in hand- i.e., they are not mutually exclusive. CSS based table-less designs are just a new approach to designing and laying out web pages.
This topic is among the hottest buttons to press and a flurry of discussion is sure to break out.